Smiling Poker Face
by Kiri Kaitou Clover
Summary: In the wake of Turnabout Succession, Trucy learns the most important skill a magician has in her arsenal amidst her tears. Gift fic for Leonawriter.


**Gift fic for Leonawriter, who kinda spurred several Ace Attorney headcanon discussions with me. Also a repost from tumblr!**

* * *

Tears streaked her face as she sobbed quietly in the corner of one of the court house waiting rooms. Her daddy was on the run. Her grandpa was dead. Her mommy had vanished. Her uncle a possible witness to murder. Her daddy's attorney about to loose his job.

Pulling the pink cape closer around her, Trucy Gramarye cried as her family was torn apart due to circumstances she didn't understand. She had given her daddy's defense attorney something that she had been sure would get her daddy out of jail, but she had not known it was fake! It had grandpa's handwriting right? Daddy was innocent! That man in blue was innocent! And then when she realised that she might have been the reason everything went wrong while she watched in the gallery, she had fled the room tears gathering in her eyes, leading to her crouching in the corner of her current hiding place.

A tiny flutter of wings caused her to look up and stop crying for a moment. In front of her, a white dove cooed gently, tilting its head to the side curiously. blinking her tears away, Trucy reached out to it, and squeaked when it suddenly knocked off her hat and landed on her head, cooing as it settled in her hair.

"Oh? This is a surprise. Tama almost never lets anyone this close to her, particularly strangers," a voice said, startling Trucy.

Looking around the room, Trucy found her eyes widening as a man dressed in all white, top hat, cape and suit, bowed to her with a grin, "Good evening, little lady. Might I know why this pretty face is stained with tears? Enough for Tama to come out without warning and try to comfort you?"

"…" Trucy kept silent. This man was a strange. He was smiling, but Trucy knew it was a fake smile. It was a smile she had seen too often on her daddy and grandpa's faces when she caught them thinking about her mommy.

He had gone into a thinking pose now, "Hm… Let me guess. Trucy Gramarye right?"

Trucy's eyes widened in shock. He knew of her? Then she stared as the smile became more real, and more pained, sadness in his eyes, as he said, "Don't worry, I know how you are feeling. The feeling of helplessness. The feeling of loss. The feeling of knowing something is wrong and being unable to do anything to stop it."

"That's why you must smile Trucy," he said.

Trucy let out a choked sob, "But how? How can I smile? Daddy's gone, Uncle Valant is still under arrest, and Grandpa is dead! My family is gone, and I have no one to go to, nothing to smile about!"

"Are you a magician Trucy?" the man in white asked out of the blue.

"In-training, yes," she sniffled.

"Then let me teach you something, magician to magician okay?" he winked.

She blinked, "Y-you're a magician too?"

"Yup. And this lesson was one I learnt as I was growing up: No matter what life throws at you, no matter how difficult or painful a situation is, don't let it show on your face. The most important lesson of being a magician is keeping a poker face," he smiled, "Be it a simple smile, or acting outright goofy, that is a poker face, hiding truth behind it."

"But…"

"I'm not saying that it has to be on all the time. You do need to cry sometimes," he laughed, scratching the back of his head. "But if the whole world is against you, sometimes a poker face is your greatest defense."

"And anyways, its not like you don't have people who care about you," he gave an amused smile.

"Trucy!" a shout echoed down the hallway next to the room. Trucy started. That was the voice of her daddy's attorney!

"Well then, I think I've overstayed my welcome!" he said, shifting the grill of the ventilation shaft, readying his escape.

"Wait!" She called out, Tama shifting on her head as she stood up, "Who are you?"

A grin spread across his face, monocle gleaming as he said, "You'll find out tomorrow night! Just watch the news!"

And with that, the man shimmied up the ventilation shaft and replaced the grill, just as one Phoenix Wright burst in looking for Trucy.

* * *

The next night, Trucy stared at the television screen in the Wright and Co. Offices in shock as she watched the same white clad man who had comforted her the day before performe feats of magic while under the moonlight, stealing away a priceless jewel from the nearby museum.

The morning after, she found Tama gone, and a familiar blue hat and cape sitting on the nearby chair. On it was a simple note:

 _Trucy Gramarye,  
_ _(or Wright, I have it on good authority that he wants to adopt you!),_

 _I managed to liberate this from your troupe's equipment before it could be taken in as evidence. I know that this was your mother's outfit, similar to how what I'm wearing now was my predecessor's. One day, you'll grow into this outfit and do your family proud, despite its current reputation. And as you train to be a magician, remember, keep a poker face. A smiling one is the best!_

 _May the Goddess of Luck be with you,  
And see you next illusion!  
_ _Kaitou KID ^_O_


End file.
